by AquaNerd | Jul 28, 2014 | Equipment, Fish, Industry, Science, Tanks
Innovative Marine is living up to their namesake this week with the announcement of the most well-equipped all-in-one nano aquariums on the market. They are bolstering their Nuvo Fusion lineup, going a little smaller to target those hobbyists who enjoy a beautiful yet insanely functional desktop sized aquarium. The new models will include the Fusion Nano 10 and 20, and despite their size, they will enjoy all of the same features of their larger brethren. That means a 10 and 20 gallon tank with low iron glass (an industry first as far as we know), mesh screen top to keep fish in, built-in overflows, a rubber leveling mat, and some impressive rear chamber filtration. And you know what the real shocker is…the tanks start at just $99. But the fun doesn’t stop there. As IM has done in the past with other aquariums, the lineup has been given access to some really awesome third-party upgrades. by AquaNerd | Jul 28, 2014 | Equipment, Events, Industry, Science
Reef-A-Palooza, one of the most attended aquarium trade show in the US, is looking to conquer another state. The show originated in California, headed east to sunny Florida, and now makes the trek north to New York. There is absolutely zero info about the show at this point, besides a date and an address, but we are sure that this event will be just as massive and successful as the other two Reef-A-Palooza events. If the other shows are any indication of how the New York version will be, then we can expect the same $15 admission fee (kids 12 and under are free), tons of aquarium equipment and livestock vendors, a boatload of family friendly activities, and a bevy of industry hardened guest speakers. Again, none of this has been released, and what little info we could find came from the show’s Facebook page. We will keep updating the blog, however, as those finer details emerge. Update: We did find a location for RAP New York. It will be held at the Meadowlands Exposition Center located at 355 Plaza Dr in Secaucus, New Jersey by AquaNerd | Jul 23, 2014 | Industry, Science
After a brief time away from the aquarium industry, IceCap is officially back in the game and they’re brining their most popular product back with them. The ever popular IceCap 660 ballast is the flagship product making its return to the lighting scene, and it will offer the same great quality and features that made it so popular to begin with. The 660 can fire VHO, PC or high output T5 light bulbs while running cooler than other ballasts while using 40% less electricity and burning 40% brighter. Single 660 ballast can run up to 4 lamps or 440watts and is fully dimmable for T12 style VHO bulbs. On top of that, the ballast is fully repairable and comes with a three year warranty. As for new features of the ballast, most things are unchanged from its predecessors, but will utilize higher quality, non lead “RoHS Compliant” integrated components that allow the ballast to run cooler, reduces the failure rate, and even makes them a little more environmentally friendly. Now, I do realize we stated that the ballast is making its return, but it should be noted that it really never quite went away. IceCap’s former VP Chris Conti went to CoralVue after the company shut it’s doors, and when he left, he took the IceCap 660 and other products with him. The 660 was rebranded under the CoralVue name, but it just wasn’t the same by AquaNerd | Jun 17, 2014 | Industry, Science
Believe it or not, but marine aquariums have been around longer than disco and moon landings. To help illustrate that fact, Tunze was getting all nostalgic at Interzoo this year, showing off their very first skimmer which dates back all the way to 1963. Hard to believe, right? And although the skimmer does look a bit foreign to us, there are still several recognizable key elements that are still present in modern designs. Even more interesting is the fact that this was the very first venturi style protein skimmer ever produced, obviously laying the groundwork for an entire sub-industry that developed as aquarists saw a need for clean water. The unusual design consists of a top mounted pump (located in the black box on the top left of the picture) that feeds water into a specialized venturi adapter, which draws in air to mix with the water. The bubbled filled water is then dumped into the cylindrical body of the skimmer and the bubbles rise into the neck of the skimmer, depositing previously dissolved organic material into a collection cup. We initially thought the white pipe at the bottom of the skimmer was an early version of the riser tube drain, but upon closer inspection it actually looks to be the line feeding water into the pump device, which would mean the clean water is passively expelled through the bottom of the cylinder. This is definitely an old design that has been refined numerous times over the years, but judging by that foam production, Norbert Tunze knew exactly what he was doing. Special thanks to Shawn Wilson for the awesome images by AquaNerd | Jun 5, 2014 | Corals, Equipment, Industry, Science
Although we’re pretty caught up in the Interzoo hype, we haven’t forgotten about all of the amazing corals that attract us to this hobby in the first place. To prove my point, we’ll now shift our focus to a really interesting find from our friends at , an East Coast marine aquarium livestock wholesaler based out of North Carolina. They recent received a batch of hammer corals from North Australia, and as you can clearly see in the images and video, they are full of what appears to be eggs. These eggs have accumulated in the tentacle tissues of the coral, with some of them forming large bundles and others freely floating within the tissue like ping pong balls trapped in an aquarium. We don’t see any of these eggs being released into the water, but clearly something out of the ordinary is going on here. Kris Cline, owner and Operations Manager at Carolina Aquatics, says that in his 18 years in the hobby and industry, he’s never seen anything like this. And to be honest, neither have we. I mean, we’ve seen corals spawning in aquariums before, but never have we see this sort of egg accumulation in the tissues and be this visible. Kris went on to explain that the exporter told them that the Euphyllids are spawning on the reefs right now, and did it around this time last year too
